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Timberland reveals a depressing truth about millennials' future in a new ad

Timberland has a new ad in Hong Kong touting the
resilience of its boots.The ad also makes reference to the fact that "you're
never going to be able to retire."This dark humor has a kernel of truth in it.

Timberland's new ad is a bit bleak.

Ad

Displayed in a mall in Hong Kong, it reads: "You're never going
to be able to retire. Why should your boots?"

"Timberland not f------ about when it comes to capturing the
millennial market," the tweet
reads, adding a dose of realism to the ad and filling in some
subtext.

While we can't begin to guess how a Hongkonger might feel about
their prospects of retirement, America's millennials are nervous
about it.

Between student loan payments and stagnant wage growth in the
wake of the Great Recession, many millennials feel they do not
have enough to contribute to their retirement accounts. Rents are
also rising rapidly in major cities in the US, and if these young
Americans do have children, childcare costs are a significant
chunk of change.

A Washington Post story put that truth on display. "Millennials
may need to double how much they save for retirement," the
headline reads, based on a prediction of a sluggish stock market
for the next decade.

"Realistically, most people who are reading this article probably
should expect to work a little bit longer than their parents
did," Tim Koller, a partner with the consulting firm McKinsey,
told the Washington Post.

Millennials are also not expecting to have the safety net their
parents had. A Pew Research Center survey found that 51% of
millennials assume that Social Security, which they are forced to
pay into, will not be around when they are ready to retire.

So while Timberland meant to reflect Hong Kong's hardworking
culture, it actually revealed one of the American millennial's
worst nightmares.

It's not clear whether this ad will be part of a campaign that
will also run in the US. Timberland did not immediately return
Business Insider's request for comment.